Bringing science out of the labs!

We are so happy to feature Pilar who will present the project titled, Bringing science out of the labs!, at our event on November 11, 2018! Read more about the project below:

Project Description

The Spanish Researchers association (Spanske Forskere i Norge – SFNO/IENO) was founded just a few months ago. It was born with the idea of promoting the collaboration of Spanish and Norwegian scientists, so we could learn from each other, but also with the objective of bringing the science to everyone who is interested in it.

We live in an awesome moment when science and technology are always present in our lives. Almost every day we read or listen to news and discoveries about scientific topics that maybe we don’t fully understand. Transgenic food, global warming, cancer research…You name it! I am sure everybody here is curious about some scientific subjects and would like to know a bit more about it. Besides, it is not only a matter of pure curiosity, but these are also important issues. Nowadays is easy to find people questioning the efficacy of the vaccines or denying the global warming, moved more by their beliefs than by scientific evidence. Moreover, some of these controversial subjects are or will be discussed in parliament. When politicians make decisions, they take into account the public opinion, so it is critical that the society has an informed knowledge on these matters.

Today there are plenty of information sources, but not all of them are reliable. Would not be great to have the chance to ask about any of these topics and be answered by an expert? That is the contribution we would like to make. Our project has several steps. First, we will create a website where people can propose different subjects and vote for those they are more interested in. The ones that get more votes will be selected for a presentation. We will book a local and one of our members will prepare a talk that presents the subject in a way that is easy to understand for everybody. In SFNO we have members who come from different areas of research and we will find the best one to present that topic. After the presentation there would be time for questions from the audience and after that we will have the opportunity to mingle and discuss the topic in a relaxed atmosphere.

Why does this idea matter to you?

SFNO/IENO is composed of people who love science. We feel a real passion for our work and we would like to transmit this feeling to others. But we also think that being a researcher imply a great responsibility: we generate knowledge and we have the duty to transfer this knowledge to the community in a way that can contribute to build a society based in critical thinking, scepticism and scientific knowledge. A prosper society is composed of individuals who understand the world they live in, who question any categorical statements and base their decisions in evidences and not in beliefs. This critical thinking can be applied to multiple areas of our lives and can help us to be properly informed, be less susceptible to manipulation and demand political decisions based in scientific evidence.

With this project we will do our best to fulfill our duty, hopefully helping to build a better society for all of us.

How will you idea make Oslo a better place?

We believe that we can contribute to create a better-informed society, promote skepticism and critical thinking, limiting the risk of manipulation by groups that spread misleading information. Hopefully, we will be creating a freer community.

How will you use the micro-grant funding to realize your concept?

If we get the micro-grant we will use the money for the following purposes:

-Website: We will need to create a website where everybody will be able to propose the subjects to discuss. The idea is to embed it in the IENO/SFNO website. Now we are using a free domain offered by WordPress. If is possible we will try to do it with the free version, if not we will buy the personal plan (360 nok per year) or the premium plan (840 nok per year).
-Rent the local: We will look for a place where we can meet and have a nice and relaxed atmosphere. Our first idea is to find a pub where we also can grab a drink and spend a nice evening together. We will try to arrange an agreement with the pub, so they provide the space for free and people attending the event buy them drinks. If that is not possible we will book a room. As an example, a room in Kulturhuset costs around 1900 nok per hour.
-Food: We would like to provide the assistants with some Spanish tapas if the money is enough.
-If after all the organization we still have some money left we will get some book about the subject we are discussing and make a lottery for all the participants.